Supporting structure for clothes washing machines and the like



Oct. 23, 1.956

OORE 2,767,944

F. W. M SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR CLOTHES WASHING MACHINES AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 28, 1953 FIG.3

INVENTOR. 26 FRED w. MOORE HIS ATTORN EY United States Patented o r. 23,1956

2,767,944 SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR CLOTI'IES WASHING MACHINES AND THE LIKE Fred W. Moore, Louisville, Ky., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application October 28, 1953, Serial No. 388,820 3 Claims. (Cl. 248-22) This invention relates to clothes washing machines, centrifugal extractors and like machines subject to vibration during use; and more particularly to a load supporting structure therefor, whereby the machine may be freestanding on an uneven surface with complete stability.

Automatic clothes washers and centrifugal extractors'present considerable vibration during operation in spite of efforts to resiliently suspend the vibra-ting'components within the machine in combination with vibration damping means. The effects of such vibration can be minimized, of course, by bolting the machine to the floor or other supporting surface; however, such a bolt-down mounting is undesirable for domestic machines where greater freedom of location is demanded. In past machines, the use of four adjustable supporting feet has been deemed essential to provide prerequisite stability. In view of the fact that most floors are uneven, it has been found in practice that all four feet must be adjusted individually and carefully, or otherwise the machine tends to rock, creep, or vibrate in an undesirable manner during operation. Furthermore, if at any timethe machine is moved to a new location, even a slight distance away, readjustment of the supporting feet is necessary.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a stable supporting foot structure, automatically self-adjusting to an uneven surface.

A further object of my invention is to utilize the ability of a three-point support to provide stability on an uneven surface, while providing the added stability against tipping and creep afforded by the use of four ormore supporting legs or feet.

In accomplishment of my invention, a feature thereof consists in providing primary support for a machine by three adjustable feet rigidly connected to a supporting framework, with added stabilizing support by self-adjusting auxiliary feet. Each of the auxiliary feet, in accord ance with a feature of this invention, includes a disk portion enclosed within a shell, with a mass of permanently plastic and putty-like resilient material within the shell normally maintaining the disk portionj spaced from the shell. e '2 The features of my invention which I believe to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. My invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is an elevation, partially in section, of a washing machine embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the base of the machine, enlarged for clarity, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a component of my invention.

Referring now to the drawing, a preferred embodiment of my invention has been illustrated in connection with an automatic clothes washing machine of the domestic type. As this disclosure proceeds however, it will be- 2 come apparent that my invention is not limited solely to this particular application, but may find other uses for support of various devices, and particularly machines subject to vibration and intended for free-standing application on a relatively uneven surface.

The washing machine illustrated herein may include an outer casing 1 completely enclosing and supporting an inner tub structure 2. The top of the machine may be provided with a suitable cover structure 3 having an access opening 4 therein, and with a rubber grommet 5 isolating cover 3 from the outer casing and tub structure. Within tub 2 a basket 6 is rotatably mounted, which basket is defined by substantially imperforate bottom and side walls. The side walls taper outwardly and upwardly with a row of apertures 7 adjacent the upper margin thereof and at the portion of the basket of maximum diameter. The uppermost edge of the basket is rolled inwardly as at 8 to form a barrier retaining clothes with in basket 6 during operation of the machine. A suitable agitator 9 is mounted within basket 6 in the usual man ner.

It is to be understood that basket 6 is adapted to receive a quantity of clothes or material to be washed along with a charge of washing liquid and detergent. Thereupon, agitator 9 is driven with an oscillatory motion by any suitable means (not shown). Upon conclusion of the washing operation, the entire basket 6 is rotated at a relatively high speed, whereupon the washing liquid is thrown out through apertures 7 into outer tub 2 from which it may be disposed to the sanitary drain system. While no specific drive mechanism for, oscillating agitator 9 or rotatingbasket 6 has been shown herein, I have illustrated schematically a motor 10, which may be employed to drive any of the numerous mechanisms currently well known commercially for accomplishing the desired results. For centrifugal extraction, the distribution of clothes or articles being washed around the inside of basket 6 is, of course, entirely fortuitous. correspondingly, conditions of dynamic and static unbalance of the rotating system must be expected.

In accordance with my invention, I prefer to employ a substantially rigid base frame for supporting the machine. In the present instance, I have shown such frame as'including a base panel 11 with integral upstanding side walls 12 and inwardly turned top flange 13 to cooperate with a similar inwardly turned flange 14 on outer casing 1, with these two mating flanges appropriately connected together by any suitable means (not shown).

As shown in Fig. 2, three primary supporting feet 15, 16 and 17 are mounted on base frame 11 in equiangular spaced relation. As shown most clearly by Fig. 1, each of these primary supporting means is in the form of a foot having a threaded shank portion 18 and a bottom foot portion or disk 19 adapted to rest on the supporting surfacefor the machine. Base frame 11 may be reinforced to receive each supporting foot by a plate .20, preferably threaded to receive shank 18 of the foot. Thus the primary support assembly is adjustable with respect to the base frame 11. A locking nut 21 is provided with each foot whereby upon achievement of the desired position of the foot, it may be secured in position.

By providing only three primary supporting feet 15, 16, and 17, the machine rests in stable equilibrium, even though the floor or other surface upon which the machine rests is relatively uneven. However, the inherent disadvantage of a three-point support for a load of this shape, size, and weight, is that the machine tends to tip toward an unsupported corner. Furthermore, under conditions of vibration, the machine may tend to tip alternately to first one side and then the other, resulting in creep of the entire machine.

To eliminate these disadvantages of a three-point primary support, in accordance with this invention a pair of auxiliary self-adjusting feet 22 and 23 are employed. As shown by Fig. 2, these two self-adjusting feet are located at otherwise unsupported corners of base frame 11. These auxiliary feet are so constructed that under normal conditions, when the machine is not in operation, each foot adapts itself to the surface upon which the machine rests to exert only a light supporting pressure. Each of these auxiliary feet will, however, resist any sudden change in its relative position with respect to support ing frame 11.

The details of the structure of each of the auxiliary supporting feet may now be described, with particular reference to Fig. 3 of the drawing. A threaded shank 24 is employed to permit the securement of the foot to base frame 11, utilizing a suitable reinforcing plate as previously described. Integral with threaded shank 24 is a disk-like foot 25. Foot 25 could also be described as a piston in view of its cooperation within an enclosing shell 26 forming, in effect, a cylinder. Top wall 27 of shell 26 is apertured at 28 with sufficient clearance to permit relative movement of the threaded shank 24 with respect to the shell. The space within shell 26 is filled with a mass of permanently plastic and putty-like resilient composition of high viscosity so that under normal conditions, shank 24 and the disk-like foot 25 remain in spaced relation with respect to the shell, as shown by Fig. 3. For example, this composition within shell 26 may be a puttylike elastic plastic such as a siloxane derivative composition containing zinc hydroxide as disclosed and claimed in Patent No. 2,541,851 issued February 13, 1951 to J. G. E. Wright and assigned to the General Electric Company, assignee of this application. Such materials are commonly referred to as a bouncing putty or as a silicone putty. Such materials have the characteristic of being a resilient fluid, with a viscosity of relatively high order, in contrast to such resilient non-fluids as rubber. In other words, under a prolonged applied stress tending to change the shape of such a material, there is a high degree of plasticity with fluid flow into the new shape. However, at the same time, such materials are highly elastic and resilient to suddenly applied stresses.

In use of the construction in accordance with this invention, the machine is placed in the approximate desired position. Primary supporting feet 15, 16 and 17 are then adjusted so that the machine is approximately level. Auxiliary feet 22 and 23 do not normally support any load while the machine is at rest and hence they are adjusted so that the internal disk 25 is approximately centered within the enclosing shell. Thereafter, during operation of the machine, the auxiliary feet tend to remain on the floor at all times, inspite of vibration, or other stresses applied to the machine tending to cause it to tip in either direction. The highly resilient character of the material within each of the auxiliary feet resists any sudden change in the relative position of the foot with respect to the supporting frame 11; while the characteristic of the material permitting high viscosity fluid flow allows each of the feet to adjust itself to a prolonged stress tending to change its position.

While this invention has been described by reference to a particular embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that numerous modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without actually departing from the invention. I therefore, aim in the appended claims, to cover all such equivalent variations as come within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an automatic clothes washing machine subject to vibration, a base structure forming the primary support for the entire machine comprising, a substantially rigid base frame, a three-point support for said base frame, and at least two. auxiliary supporting feet to increase stability, each of said auxiliary feet including a foot member secured to said frame, a shell enclosing said foot member with the walls thereof in spaced relation with respect to said foot member, said shell being movable relative to said foot member, and a quantity of cold-flowing plastic material in said shell surrounding said foot member, said plastic material flowing under continued pressure and being elastic under impulsive force.

2. In an automatic clothes washing machine subject to vibration, a base structure forming the support for the entire machine comprising a substantially rigid base frame, three equiangularly spaced support feet adjustably affixed to said frame, and at least two auxiliary support members to increase stability, each of said auxiliary support members including a foot member adjustably secured to said frame, a shell enclosing each of said foot members and movable with respect thereto, and a quantity of cold-flowing plastic material within each of said shells normally maintaining a corresponding foot member in spaced relation with respect thereto, said plastic material flowing under sustained pressure and being resilient under impulsive force.

3. Supporting means for automatic washing machines and like devices subject to vibration comprising, a rigid base frame, three triangularly spaced apart feet adjustably aflixed to said frame and forming the primary support whereby said frame is supported in a stable condition on uneven surfaces, a pair of auxiliary feet adjustably afiixed to said frame and located with respect to two of said primary support feet in quadrilaterally spaced relation, a shell encompassing each of said auxiliary feet and movable with respect thereto, and a mass of resilient fluid having a viscosity of high order between each auxiliary foot and its associated housing, said mass flowing under sustained pressure and being resilient under impulsive force.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Cowell Apr. 15, 1930 Waterbury et a1 Oct. 25, 1949 OTHER REFERENCES 

